Local

Waterbury woman's life changed after meeting JFK during his visit BY MIKE PATRICK REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERBURY — Like many in her generation, Esther Levegnale remembers exactly where she was 50 years ago today, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

But she also remembers where she was three years before: Whispering in the president's ear.

Shortly before his election, Kennedy visited Waterbury, and then 15-year-old Levegnale, blind since birth, had something important to say to him.

"I said, 'America needs you; even I can see that,'" the 68-year-old woman remembered this week. "I started to cry, and he said, 'Don't cry, dear.' I was in a trance. It was unreal."

That little meeting of a minute or so, she said, inspired her for the next half century.

Kennedy was expected in Waterbury sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight on Nov. 6, 1960. His campaign motorcade, however, spent more time than anticipated traveling through the Naugatuck Valley. Thousands of residents lined the streets as the procession moved through Shelton, Ansonia, Seymour and other towns, and it didn't arrive at the Waterbury Green until about 3 a.m.

It was a last-minute campaign stop in a city known at the time to be both heavily Democratic and heavily Catholic. It certainly seemed to pay off, because there, despite the bitter cold, Kennedy found some 30,000 cheering supporters.

"Waterbury is either the easiest city in the United States to get a crowd in," Kennedy quipped during his speech from the balcony at the Elton Hotel, "or it has the best Democrats in the United States."

Among the Massachusetts senator's fans were Levegnale's parents, who appealed to a family friend who worked with then-mayor Edward D. Bergin Sr., to get their daughter an audience with Kennedy.

"Everybody else could see him," she said. "But I wanted to touch him."

And that touch? "Effervescent," she recalled.

"It was like touching God," she said. "That's the only way I can describe it."

LEVEGNALE WEIGHED LITTLE MORE than two pounds when she was born prematurely. She was placed in an incubator and flooded with oxygen — a common practice in the 1940s, she said, that led to blindness in many babies.

At 15, she said, she had heard the adults around her talking about Kennedy and had listened to his speeches on TV and the radio.

She liked what he had to say about the space program. But more important to her, she said, was his stand on civil rights, especially as they related to those with disabilities. She decided that if she were old enough to vote, she would cast her ballot for him.

Kennedy, of course, went on to win the presidency. Levegnale went on to the University of Bridgeport, where she studied to become a medical transcriptionist.

It was there, three years later, that she received the sad news.

"It was a beautiful day. I had just gotten out of French class and I was on my way to phys-ed when I saw everybody crowding outside, saying Kennedy was shot," she said.

The news that he had died was broadcast while she was in her bowling class.

"The ball was in my hand when I heard Walter Cronkite say President Kennedy passed away," she said. "I couldn't move."

The shock, sadness and anger took its toll on her, she said.

"I remember taking my coat off and throwing myself on the bed, and I cried."

LEVEGNALE'S QUAINT TOWN PLOT HOME is impeccably kept. Glass figurines adorn a curio cabinet. Royal Dalton mugs in the likenesses of George Washington and other historical figures sit high on a shelf.

She keeps a collection of Kennedy mementos in a shirt box — stitched fabric banners, campaign buttons, a Life magazine commemorative issue autographed by a Kennedy aide.

In one room, Kennedy's presence is everywhere. His photos adorn the walls, including one of Levegnale whispering her words of support in his ear.

Perhaps more impressive are nearby photos of Levegnale swimming with dolphins. An avid outdoors person, she skis, golfs and bicycles. She often participates in tournaments benefiting places like the Hartford-based Connecticut Institute for the Blind.

"I felt like Kennedy kind of got me on the path to do this for people," she said. "He was so altruistic. I just sort of wanted to be the same way."

She said she's in "all sorts of organizations" advocating for the blind and the handicapped.

"I think he had such charisma that it just affected me," she said. "I said, I want to be some kind of role model for people, too."

Contact Mike Patrick at mpatrick@rep-am.com, on Twitter @RA_MikePatrick or on Facebook at RA.Mike.Patrick.

" I remember it all like it was yesterday; 3 AM or thereabouts, standing on S. Main St. and holding a lighted flare when his motorcade came by; his riveting speech from the balcony of the Elton; his inauguration, Camelot, then hearing of his assassination from Mr. Miller, the manager of Arlan's Dept, Store, where I was working 50 years ago today.

The days, weeks and years to follow left a nation stunned and its collective heart broken, but I never forgot these words he spoke "Ask not what your country an do for you, ask what you can do for your country" which guided me like a beacon throughout my life.

While posted in DC, I made countless trips to Arlington to visit his grave site and reflect on that time when family, God and country was the rock bed of life in the United States and to perhaps feel his presence and hear those words again. "

" The United States Fifty Years Ago was something to be admired and other Countries were envious of our prosperityand Lifestyle.The people of this once great Nation had Morals and Ethics along with Pride and Honesty.The American people wanted to work and did not want a handout unlike today were people demand and expect everything from Government.The Great Society under the leadership of LBJ created this disaster.Our borders are wide open and we are being flooded with individuals who contribute nothing.Then we have all the useless creatures that were born here and have never worked a day in their Life and never will and this has been going on for generations.The American people have sat back and done nothing to stop this destruction. Fifty Percent of Americans don't even bother to show up to vote in a National Election and on a Local and State level it's around Thirty Percent turnout. The people don't contact their Representatives or seem to care.The Educational System is weak and parental involvement is absent in many Communities.Many of these so called Parents could not tell you how many letters are in the Alphabet and they don't have the ability to care for a Tomato Plant and they continue to have Children and expect the Taxpayer to pay for their existence.America is dying,we are on Death Row and the sentence is being carried out due to poor leadership and lack of individual involvement.We have become a Country of weak sniveling Cowards and one day it will be to late to save and I believe that is on the horizon.The criminals and gangs are out of control and the time has come to enact barbaric consequences to save our Society.Our infrastructure is crumbling and yet we give BILLIONS to Countries that HATE our guts.The time is near and one day people will wake up and wonder how could this happen? You allowed it !!! "

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.